and self-improvement should be done with the pur-pose of benefiting others.”

Frey always wanted to help others, as his life-long career goal demonstrates. While he didn’t pursue nursing, his current uniformed profession serves his community in many ways. And he was able to take his years of real-world experience into the classroom.

“I shared new experiences we use in the field that weren’t covered in the class, and the students who were in my classes from other majors were able to share their experiences with me,” he said. Frey and Schanz have traveled overseas to work and serve. For Frey, the destination was Afghani-stan and Kuwait where, twice, he traded his police uniform for camouflage. He was able to count his second deployment as his internship; the end result was a 20-page paper about how he applied the dis-cipline of criminal justice to his work.

“[Writing] was relaxing for me and took me

The Milton S. Hershey School concept in a poor, developing country. That’s how Horizon Initiative COO Laura Schanz describes her company’s focus. Horizon Initiative is a Pennsylva-nia-based not-for-profit organization founded by venture capitalists, whose vision is to “empower the poor to self-sustainability.”

Horizon will achieve this by establishing microcommunities in developing countries. These com-pounds include a home for orphans, dining and recreation areas, farm units, livestock units, medical clinics, primary and trade schools and small business. Today, one community is

thriving. Horizon has purchased ad-ditional land and, by 2012, strives to complete 24 more similar communi-ties. As COO, part of Schanz’s job is to scale those communities, creating the infrastructure for growth and sustainability. Schanz’s visit to Kenya combines everything she is so pas-sionate about.

“It is a great fit between hu-manitarian efforts, business, faith and social [interaction],” she said.

away from Afghanistan and allowed me to reflect on the 19 years of service I completed,” he said. Schanz’s destination was Kenya—to see the life-changing microcommunity her organization built. While she had lived in Africa as a child (her father was in the military), the experience was eye-opening when she returned as an adult on a “famil-iarize trip” with Horizon; at the time, the organiza-tion was one of her clients. Since joining Horizon as COO, she has visited Kenya two more times. Both Shantz and Frey are proud to have gradu-ated from Elizabethtown College. While their life and work experience certainly played a role in their academic success, there’s no doubt the innovative course delivery and supportive staff contributed to their accomplishments.

“The staff has really done an outstanding job understanding the needs of adult students and how to meet them, without reducing the academic stan-dards,” said Schanz.